A stretch of U.S. 25 near the North Carolina border that has been lauded by the Federal Highway Administration for its innovative safety improvements recently has been plagued by accidents. A repaving project has left the road temporarily without a strategic, friction-improving road surface.

The state Department of Transportation said it has noted an uptick in crashes, particularly during wet conditions, ever since the special material was removed in order to repave the cracked and crumbling roadway.

Installation of the new asphalt was completed by the end of May. It will likely be August before the top coat can be reinstalled. Meanwhile, roadside signs and lighted messages warn drivers of the more hazardous conditions.

"It appears that the only instance we're having problems out there is when it's wet," said Dennis Garber, district construction engineer for the state Department of Transportation.

The current asphalt is what is commonly used on major roadways around the state and is considered safe, he said. But a steep incline, fast drivers and frequent rain in the area meant an additional high-friction surface could increase safety. It was first installed in 2008.

When the surface was milled off in advance of the repaving, new "slippery when wet" symbol signs were installed in both directions and an overhead message board on the southbound lanes advised slower speeds — 45 mph instead of the usual 55 mph speed limit — during wet conditions, Garber said.

"We're trying to figure out what we can do to clue people in that there's a situation — it's a temporary situation — out here," he said. "We hope to have the friction course down soon, but it's just a current condition."

Local woman Vanessa Gordon was traveling the steep section of highway on a rainy evening early this month. She stopped to help another driver whose car had crashed near Gap Creek Road when a second vehicle slid on the wet road and struck Gordon and another victim, according to the Highway Patrol.

"You're coming down a steep grade that's much steeper than normal to try to drive," said Mark Ashmore, president of Ashmore Brothers, the contractor for the $8.5 million resurfacing project. "If you don't ride your brakes, you're going to speed.

"I think it's been rated, from reports I've seen, as one of the worst places for accidents," he said.

Paving restrictions mean drivers will face more weeks of slippery conditions before the special surface is reapplied.

The underlying asphalt has to cure for at least 45 days before the high-friction surface can be added. And there are also weather and temperature restrictions for applying the new materials.

"Due to the stuff that's going on, we're going to try to minimize (the wait time)," Garber said. "Ideally, it's going to be early August. ... We want to put it down, but we don't want to put it down too early and then we cause problems."

The study reported on a 1-mile stretch of U.S. 25, beginning near the state line and continuing past the intersection with Gap Creek Road. The crash-prone section of road was plagued by a 6 percent grade, inclement weather, poor drainage and short sight distances, it said.

When the high-friction surface was added to the road in 2008, it was the largest application of the material in the state to date. The result: a 68 percent reduction in wet crashes and a 56 percent reduction in total crashes, the study said.

According to the Federal Highway Administration, South Carolina is one of nine states aggressively using high-friction treatments to increase safety on steep grades, curves, ramps and other locations where poor friction increases the risk of crashes. The FHWA case study reported an overall 81 percent reduction in wet crashes and 71 percent reduction in total crashes across seven high-friction surface sites in South Carolina.